Elmer Engel's final Bay City Central football team joins Bay County Sports Hall of Fame

Bay City Central's 1972 football team went 9-0 and claimed the Class A state title.Courtesy photo

BAY CITY, MI – Motivation came easy for every Elmer
Engel-coached football team.

Especially his last team.

The patriarch of the Bay City Central powerhouse had hinted
that 1972 would be his swansong, and the Wolves were determined to make it his final
season his finest season.

"Our goal wasn't to win the Valley, it wasn't to go 8-1 --
the goal was to win a state championship and nothing less," said Art Wyzgowski,
an all-state lineman on the 1972 team. "That's the way Engel wanted to go out,
and that's the way he did go out."

Central rolled to an unblemished 9-0 mark and was voted
Class A state champion in the Associated Press and United Press International
polls, scripting the perfect sendoff for the iconic coach.

Now that team takes its place among local legends –
including four other Bay City Central state championship football teams – with
induction into the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame. The 1972 squad is being
honored with the Class of 2012 at a banquet at the DoubleTree hotel and
conference center Oct. 7.

Engel coached Central from 1950-72, guiding the Wolves to a
165-34-8 record with 10 Saginaw Valley League championships and five state
titles. So when word spread that 1972 may be his finale, the Wolves were ready
to make it a special season.

"If we didn't go 9-0, that would have been something we
would have really had to live with the rest of our lives," said Wyzgowski, who
played center and defensive tackle.

Coming off a 6-1-2 season in 1971 and featuring all-SVL
standouts such as Kevin Nixon, Mark Larson, Greg Braman, Jim Engel, Harvey
Feinauer and Ned Kleinke, the Wolves knew they were built for great success –
even on a Bay City Central scale.

"People would stare us, thinking we were a college team
because we were so big," Wyzgowski said. "I was the small guy at 230 pounds.
People were scared of us when we walked off the bus."

And the Wolves backed it up by taking care of business on
the field. With Engel's all-fundamentals, all-the-time brand of ball, Central
methodically knocked out nine straight foes, including state-ranked Saginaw
Arthur Hill and Midland.

"We knew we had the talent, but we went out there to prove
it all the time," said Nigel Wirgowski, an end and middle linebacker. "When it
came to putting on the pads, we put everything else aside and went out there to
be No. 1 – we had that goal and we were going to do everything we could to make
it happen."

The Wolves didn't move into the top spot in the rankings
until a Week 7 loss by powerful Muskegon opened the door. But Central's two
games at No. 1 would be its toughest.

Flint Northwestern sent a major Week 8 scare into the Wolves
when Lennie Jackson broke loose for an 81-yard touchdown for a 20-14 lead with
1:43 left in the game. But quarterback Mark Larson drove the Wolves on their
biggest march of the season, hitting Kevin Nixon and Arnold Smith to take
Central to the 3-yard line with 26 seconds to play, then finding Wirgowski for
the game-winner.

"I've been coaching for 24 years and that's the first time a
team has ever made me cry," said an emotional Engel following the game, as
quoted in The Bay City Times.

More tears of joy would follow in Week 9 as upset-minded
T.L. Handy took an 8-6 lead on the Wolves into the fourth quarter. But Larson
would score the go-ahead TD on a fourth-down keeper and John Velasquez added a
4-yard score five minutes later for a 20-14 win that sealed the state crown.

"The last few minutes of the Handy game, when we knew that
we had won the state championship, was special," Wyzgowski said. "What a
feeling to know that we had done it and it would be there forever."

The following season marked the opening of Bay City Western
and two years later the state football playoffs were initiated. Along with
Engel's retirement, the 1972 campaign was truly the end of an era, and the Wolves
made certain that era went out in style.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet cost $35 and are
available by contacting Bob Darbee at 989-714-5830 or rdarbee464@gmail.com.

Bay City Central 44,
Saginaw Arthur Hill 23

Coach Elmer Engel never lost a season opener in his career
at Central, and the Wolves made certain it didn't happen in 1972. After
clinging to a 30-23 lead late in the game, the Wolves scored two TDs in the
final 2:52 to ice it. Arnold Smith scored three touchdowns and Kevin Nixon ran
for 138 yards and two scores. Arthur Hill would not lose another game,
finishing No. 8 in the state in 1972 then going undefeated and unscored upon in
1973.

Bay City Central 31,
Livonia Stevenson 20

Again the game was in question until the final quarter but
Harry Girvin clinched it with a touchdown at the 5:20 mark. Kevin Nixon's
77-yard punt return gave the Wolves a spark and kept Engel perfect against
non-league teams since 1952.

Bay City Central 47,
Flint Southwestern 12

Southwestern ranked No. 4 in the state and had handed
Central it's lone loss of 1971, but the Wolves flaunted their might. Arnold
Smith and Kevin Nixon both ran for more than 100 yards and quarterback Mark
Larson scored four touchdowns.

Bay City Central 27,
Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills 0

The Wolves moved up to No. 2 in the polls and showed they
were gunning for No. 1, dominating from the start. Kevin Nixon ran for 88 yards
and Gary Beiser came up with a fumble recovery to preserve the shutout.

Bay City Central 26,
Midland 20

After mysteriously falling to No. 3 in the rankings, Central
had to prove itself again against No. 7 Midland. Mark Larson ran for two scores
while Kevin Nixon scored one on the ground and one through the air for the
pivotal victory.

Bay City Central 42,
Flint Central 7

No. 2-ranked Central put on a show for its homecoming crowd.
Mark Larson scored three TDs and kicked six PATs while Nixon tacked on a pair
of touchdown runs in the romp.

Bay City Central 37,
Saginaw 16

The Wolves clinched the Saginaw Valley League East title in
a 10 a.m. Saturday contest. Kevin Nixon nabbed three interceptions, taking one
back for a touchdown while Arnold Smith rushed for 108 yards. The victory came
the morning after No. 1-ranked Muskegon was upset, opening the door for the
Wolves to ascend to the top spot.

Bay City Central 21,
Flint Northwestern 20

In that game that will long be remembered, the Wolves came
through like champions when it looked like an upset was in the making at
Houston Stadium. Northwestern's Lennie Jackson scored an 81-yard touchdown for
the 20-14 lead with 1:43 to play. But Larson drove the Wolves in dramatic
fashion, hitting Arnold Smith and Kevin Nixon to move to the 3-yard line with
26 on the clock, then finding Nigel Wirgowski for the game-winner.

Bay City Central 20,
Bay City Handy 14

Only the rivals stood in their way – and the Wildcats
remained in their way until the final moments. Handy led 8-6 in the fourth
quarter only to see Central score twice in a five-minute span, with Larson getting
the go-ahead TD on a fourth-and-1. John Velasquez punched in a 4-yard score
that would loom large as Central completed the state championship quest.